Canadian actress Seana McKenna is renowned for tackling tough roles but this year might be her most demanding ever.

McKenna has been touring Joan Didion’s one-woman show The Year of Magical Thinking, playing the American writer reacting to her husband’s sudden death. At the same time, she’s been gearing up to reprise the role of Anne Hathaway in another one-woman show, Shakespeare’s Will.

And this spring, McKenna — known to many Canadians for her work in the CBC-TV dramas Street Legal and Road to Avonlea — will take on Richard III at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, a part McKenna says requires a level of stamina that “has challenged men half (her) age.”

The actress, who lives outside of Stratford, Ont., with her husband and teenage son, says the physically demanding nature of her work requires her to stay fit.

“I am very aware that my ability to work relies on my health and I need to be strong and have energy,” she says from Ottawa while on tour.

McKenna visits the gym three times a week, and tries to give her body an “all round” workout.

“My energy is so much better after I’ve been to the gym,” McKenna says.

She warms up on the rowing machine and then lifts weights – alternating between sets with free weights and machines - focusing on her triceps, biceps, lats and other back muscles. She completes her workout doing cardio on the elliptical machine for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.